The second wave of feminism refers to a phase of feminist thought and activity that took place in the United States between the early 1960s and the 1980s. This wave of feminism spread fast to different parts of the Western world. Its aim was to increase equality for women. The second wave was broader in its scope than the first one and included such issues as family, sexuality, and reproductive rights. Furthermore, workplace concerns and legal and de facto inequalities were also incorporated into it. Through this second wave, attention was drawn to issues formerly not addressed, such as marital rape, domestic violence, women shelters, and rape crisis centers. The action of feminists in this wave saw changes in divorce and custody laws, and this brought some relief to women.
While the second wave of feminism brought about notable transformation as far as gender equality is concerned, it was met with a lot of criticism because of its homogenized definition of a woman as a victim. The second wave of feminism thrived under the assumption that oppression of women is not a result of race, class, or culture but simply because of being female. Opponents to this wave felt that the homogenization of the experiences of women by assuming that the problems experienced by Western middle-class women were the concerns of all women, in general, stood in the way of having the specific concerns of the various groups such as women of color, women from third world countries among other groups being addressed. The wave is thought to have focused mostly on white and middle-class women, thereby alienating women who did not belong to these groups. According to Lorde, sisterhood, as put forward in the second wave, doesn’t actually exist, and this discredits the homogeneity approach assumed in this wave.
As a result of these concerns with second-wave feminism, there was a need to acknowledge the fact that gender indeed intersects with multiple other factors, including class, race, age, and so on. Therefore, the concerns of the Western middle-class woman did not represent the concerns of all other women. This gave rise to the third wave of feminism which was characterized by feminists who embraced diversity and individuality. This wave was grounded on the concept of intersectionality, which acknowledged that the different forms of oppression that women faced were not limited to gender alone as the causative factor but were also caused by other aspects such as race, class, age, and sexuality, among other differences. As such, the goals of feminism were broadened in this wave to include women with diverse cultural, class, and racial identities. Among the issues that third-wave feminism addressed are violence against women, reproductive rights, reclamation of derogatory terms used in reference to women, and workplace issues such as maternity leave policies, the glass ceiling, and respect for working mothers.
While the second wave of feminism was met with a lot of criticism, it still played a significant role as far as the fight for equality for women is concerned. However, the arguments put forward by its opponents on its homogeneity and assumption that the experiences of Western middle-class women are universal were also valid. As such, third-wave feminism was worth it as it addressed the intersectionality of gender with other differences such as race, class, sexuality, and age, thereby giving women from these different groups a voice.